


The Sweetest Cycle, The Gentlest Poison

by RemainingQuestions



Series: Tenacious Tripartite [1]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, and i just dont know if i want to do that rn lol, but it hardly to not at all shows in this fic lol, i have a really well worked out world that this is set in, idk if ill write more for this 'verse because it would get... very intense, like how and why xisuma is split into three and all that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22566016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RemainingQuestions/pseuds/RemainingQuestions
Summary: He was Xisuma before he was VoidEvilApathetic. He was whole before he was himself.He can't be whole, ever again. He can't ever be apart, either.
Series: Tenacious Tripartite [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689388
Comments: 15
Kudos: 77





	The Sweetest Cycle, The Gentlest Poison

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Doppelgänger](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184976) by [sprucewoodcottage (ironmermaidens)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironmermaidens/pseuds/sprucewoodcottage). 



> like the tags say, theres,,, theres a lot of lore for this (considerably smaller) fic that exists _solely_ in my head lol
> 
> basically - before hermitcraft, Xisuma was Xisuma, not Void, just Xisuma. Then something happened, and it wasn't stable, anymore. So the universe and X had a conversation, and, well, triangles are a very stable shape. Void. Evil. Apathetic. All their own strengths and weaknesses. Strong together. That was the idea at least, but as much as they lift each other up, they also tear each other down.  
> An endless cycle of perfect harmony into perfect discord into perfect harmony. (but all cycles can be broken)

Xisuma went to bed on time. 

Ex stayed up late, slept in. 

Ax did whatever he wanted.

All of them get nightmares, sometimes. 

All of them trust the others, when it comes down to it. 

Ex’s socks are silent against the cold floor. He turns off lights as he walks, the pattern familiar. 

Ax talking in his room, still shooting people in Fortnite. From his quiet volume, he seemed to be on a winning streak. 

Finally, Ex walks past Xisuma’s room. 

It’s a familiar pattern. 

Xisuma went to bed so much earlier than he did, but he still always peeks that he hadn’t left. Ex didn’t consider why beyond that. He just did, and Xisuma had only noticed once. 

But this night there was a voice coming out of Xisuma’s bedroom. “Stop, no-” Ex pushes the door. “Please-” The room was dark, not even the moon through a window in this base. But Ex’s recognises Xisuma asleep under his blankets. “No! -” 

Hopefully asleep. “Suma?” He keeps his voice soft and his footfalls quiet as he creeps closer. “Suma?” 

Xisuma whimpered, and this close Ex could see the tension in his frame. 

Should you shake people with nightmares awake, or not touch them at all? “ _ Suma _ ,” Ex tries again, to no response. “Oh for f-” Ex reaches out, and gently grasps Xisuma’s shoulder.

Xisuma’s head shook with the shaking of his shoulder, but still he stays asleep. 

“Xisuma!” Ex shakes Xisuma more forcibly, the most he dared.

“ **Aaa** !” Xisuma’s eyes snap open, his hands reaching forward, grasping Ex’s upper arms. “What? How?” His eyes are still wide, grip harsh, voice loud. 

“Shh,” Ex tries to step back, but Xisuma still has a firm grip on his arms. “It was just a nightmare.” 

The panicked grip slides into a simple hold. “Nightmare?” Ex nods, tries not to shift away from Suma. “Oh.” 

“Fuck yes!” A shout is heard from the other room, and both Ex and Suma wince. The rest of what Ax says is softer again, inaudible to the other two. 

“‘Suma?” Ex’s voice is soft, especially after Ax’s shout. There’s a thousand layers of questions in that single whispered word, and Xisuma hears them all. 

Xisuma’s fingers loosen, no longer digging into Ex’s shoulder. He swallows. His posture folds into himself, shoulder drawing close and knees drawing up. His gaze falls to the tangle of sheets covering his lap. His chin dips down and up again. A single nod. 

“Okay.” Ex knows Xisuma well enough to know what he needs right now. It’s easy to slide his socks off. To slide the blanket aside. The bed is warm, but it’s been so long since they last did this that it’s awkward nonetheless. “Okay?” Ex slides his arm around Xisuma, who curls into it. 

“Okay.” Slowly, Xisuma turns into Ex’s embrace. 

For a moment, it’s just their breathing. 

The door doesn’t creak open, but neither does it slam into the wall. Light spills in, silhouetting Ax. “What’s up fuckers, I heard a shout.” He walks in, not closing the door behind him, arms held oddly in front of him. 

“Aph,” Ex sighs. He doesn’t know what Ax is coming in here for. Ax doesn’t check up on Xisuma, tends to live parallel to both Xisuma and Ex all together. 

Ax sighs. “I know.” They know each other well. Too well, or exactly well enough. Regardless, Ex hears the layers beneath what Ax says. Doesn’t say. 

“Okay.” Xisuma’s voice is soft, but firm. He, too, hears beneath what Ax says. 

He sits down on the foot of Xisuma’s bed. Close, but still carefully distant. The distance had been wrought by his own hand, in part. They all had tried to split apart at times. It never worked. “I brought hot cocoa.” His stance makes sense now, hands holding a tray with three cups on it up. 

Xisuma shifts up, and Ex lets his arm fall away. “Oh?” 

The hallway light glints of Ax’s teeth as he smiles. “Made just right. Dark with orange for you, Suma. Lavender with marshmallows for Exie, and a some PB for me.” 

The steam curls upwards, sweet and soft. The porcelain is warm in Ex’s fingers. “I-” 

“Thank you.” Xisuma breaks in. His eyes are still downturned, but his hands don’t shake, his legs stretched out again. 

It’s silent again, the hallway light through the open door making the comfortable scene visible. The warm drink settles comfortably in Ex’s stomach, walking hand in hand with his exhaustion towards yawning. 

Xisuma follows suit, “stay, after?” His voice is still soft, and his eyes look towards Ax, still sat on the foot, seperate from Ex and Xisuma. 

Ex’s fingers tangle in Xisuma’s pyjama top. He wants this Ax to stay too. The one that calls them fuckers before bringing them exactly what they need. The one that smirks as he remembers their favourite hot chocolate, as if he’s winning by doing that, too. 

Ax, on the other hand, seems shocked. He gapes, eyes flickering between Ex and Xisuma. “I-” He looks down. “You want me?” 

It breaks Ex’s heart, and resonates with him too. “Yes.” The words slip out before he considers them. Hadn’t he been at the other side of this conversation too? How often would the three of them go around this cycle again and again? “We want you, Aph.” His heart thunders in his chest still, no matter how longing Ax’s voice had sounded. 

Ax’s eyes flick to Xisuma, who nods. “We do, Ax.” Xisuma wriggles, and slides the blanket on his other side downwards. “Come in bed?” 

He stands up. Slides his jeans off. Takes the final sip of his cocoa and puts the cup down on the nightstand. “Sure?” 

Xisuma drinks the last dredges of his chocolate and puts the cup next to Ax’s. “Come in.” He’s still leaning over, his arm smoothly moving from cup to Ax’s waist. 

He closes his eyes and takes a single breath, Xisuma’s hand never moving, not pushing nor pulling. “Okay.” It’s not like a marionette whose strings have been cut, or a building whose foundations have been removed, but Ax  _ collapses _ downward, folding into himself as he slides into bed next to Xisuma. 

His head ends up on Xisuma’s shoulder, Xisuma’s arm underneath his torso. Ex leans over them to put his empty cup down too, and lays down on Xisuma’s other side. He wraps his arm over Xisuma, hand ending up above his heart, calmly beating. Ax meets his eyes, and he blinks, accepting, and Ax’s fingers tangle with his. 

Xisuma sighs comfortably and wiggles his arm underneath Ex too. “Good.” 

Ex nods. “Good.” His voice is softer, a hint of sadness underneath. How long, a part of him whispers, until it isn’t like this again? Until his destructive habits get too strong again? Until Ax gets casually cruel instead of kind again? Until Xisuma forgets how important they are to him again? 

When Ex opens his eyes again, Ax is still looking at him. Still sees him. “Yes, this, right here, right now, is good.” Effortless kindness again, and exactly what Ex needs to hear. Focus on the now, and tomorrow they can fall into the horrible cycle of tearing apart and getting together again. “Sleep now, Exie.” 

Xisuma hums, and Ex feels the vibrations in his fingers tangled with Ax’s. “Thank you.” 

Tomorrow, Ex thinks to himself, he’ll worry how long it will last this time. Right now, he closes his eyes, and lets the warmth guide him towards sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> I REMEMBER HOW MUCH FUN I HAD W THESE NICKNAMES  
> APH, EXIE, EX CALLING HIM APH WHILE X CALLS HIM AX? APH CALLING EX VEE? VEE CALLING X SUMA??  
> HI THESE THREE HAVE _SUCH_ SIMILAR SOUNDING NICK/ABBREVIATIONS THAT I HAD TO GET CREATIVE AND IM REAL GLAD I DID


End file.
